Vendor asking price reaches new all-time high as inventory drops near record low

Record asking prices in Auckland and Central Lakes/Otago drive new national highAUCKLAND, 1 May, 2013 – The average asking price of vendors for properties around New Zealand reached a new all time high in April. According to data released today in the New Zealand Property Report – a monthly report of housing marked activity compiled by Realestate.co.nz – the national average asking price extended to $447,275 (seasonally adjusted truncated mean). The previous high, set in November last year was $446, 277.

Paul McKenzie, Marketing Manager for realestate.co.nz says that the new high is part of a continuing growth pattern. “While the asking price did reach a new high, a six per cent increase on the same time last year, it is only a half of a per cent increase on last month. Asking prices are trending upwards and look set to remain high through the winter months.”

The new high was caused largely by new all-time high asking prices in Auckland and Central Lakes/Otago. While Auckland’s average asking price of $612,167 was a small increase on the previous high of $611,864, the new high in Central Lakes/Otago, $679,987 was up nearly $40,000 on the previous high of $642,251.

The new high in asking price was matched by low inventory, adding pressure to the already tight market. Inventory – the number of equivalent weeks of sales left on the market – fell to 26.8 weeks nationally, a small decrease on March, but close to the all-time low of 26.2 weeks. New lows in inventory were set in Canterbury and Central North Island, while Auckland fell to 14 weeks, just above it’s record low of 13.9 and well below the long term average of 30 weeks.

McKenzie says the low inventory figure was caused by a strong month of sales, “what is indicative is that despite numbers of new listings similar to prior year, inventory is down 20% on the same time. For example, Auckland had 3,543 new properties brought to the market in April, 9.3% more than a year ago, yet inventory fell 35%.”

Despite the increase in properties in Auckland, 10 of the 19 regions in New Zealand reported listings down on April 2012. “We are still seeing a reluctance to bring new properties to the market, this is creating an ever tightening market as demand is staying high, there simply aren’t enough new properties on the market to slow things down,” says McKenzie.

Realestate.co.nz is the country’s most comprehensive property listing website, profiling listings of licensed real estate agents with more than 110,000 listings covering residential, commercial, business as well as farms for sale.

The May 2013 issue of the NZ Property Report – a monthly report of housing market activity compiled by Realestate.co.nz – can be found along with more analysis of the property market on www.unconditional.co.nz, the news and information website for New Zealand real estate.